What is the least sustainable transport?

Air travel is convenient and can transport large numbers of passengers, but it has a high environmental impact due to carbon emissions and fuel needs. Gas-consuming vehicles provide convenience and flexibility but have high carbon emissions and contribute to traffic.



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Within the transport sector, road transport is the largest contributor to global warming.

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Mathews points to research showing that trains emit the lowest of CO2 per passenger mile at 177 grams per passenger mile. Buses come in at 299 grams per mile, second-worst only to cars at 371 grams.

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An average transit bus can fit up to 42 people, which means a full bus can remove 42 single-passenger cars from the road during a commute. A handful of full buses running every 15 minutes or so along one commute route can take up to 168 cars off the road each hour, including those cars' emissions!

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If we take an overall view of the transport sector, 71% of transportation related carbon emissions come from road users, whereas only 1.8% of emissions stem from rail travel. So in absolute terms, trains are responsible for a lot less emissions than cars.

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So, if you're traveling with three or more people, driving is the better option, and here's why: Three people on the cross-country flight would account for 1.86 tons of carbon emissions (0.62 tons of CO2 x 3), compared to the total 1.26 tons of carbon the vehicle would produce (ignoring that the extra weight would ...

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Air traffic represents less than 2-3% of the global CO2 emissions whereas road traffic accounts for around 10% of these direct emissions. Still, planes remain among the most polluting means of transport, together with cars.

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Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions of the airline industry and the trip was announced as carbon neutral. As a racing sailboat, the Malizia II has no toilet, fixed shower, cooking facilities or proper beds.

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A June study from sustainable transport campaigner The European Federation for Transport and Environment found that 63 cruise ships owned by parent company Carnival Corporation emitted 43% more sulfur oxides, a group of harmful air pollutants, than all the 291 million cars in Europe in 2022.

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Mathews points to research showing that trains emit the lowest of CO2 per passenger mile at 177 grams per passenger mile. Buses come in at 299 grams per mile, second-worst only to cars at 371 grams.

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The calculator uses a figure of 100 g/mile CO2. This is based on an overall figure of 49 g/km i.e. 80 g/mile (or 0.080 kg/mile) - from the AEA Report [1]. This gives a range from 19 g/km to 71 g/km for intercity trains depending on route, engine type (diesel or electric) and passenger load (ranging from 44% to 68%).

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